Lullaby
by Akiko Natsuko
Summary: Lavi hummed softly under his breath, some ancient lullaby that he had read somewhere in one of the history books the Old man forced him to memorise, enjoying the peaceful expression that had crept onto Kanda's face on this rare quiet day.


Lavi had been on the brink of falling asleep, his head bobbing, lulled by the warm fire in front of them and Kanda's warmth pressed against his front, his partner's breathing like a lullaby as Kanda allowed himself a rare nap. Lavi's eyes had just closed, chin brushing his chest when he heard the door opening and his head shot up as he blinked sleep out of his eyes, the last few months meaning that his hand was halfway towards his innocence before he realised that it was Allen in the doorway, peering in at them. At once Lavi placed a finger to his lip, especially as he caught the glint in silver eyes as Allen realised that Kanda was asleep, not trusting the other exorcist not to get up to mischief and ignoring the fact that if it had been anyone but Kanda, he would probably have let him do what he wanted.

However, the fact that it was Kanda meant that he had extra reason to put a halt to it, unwilling to lose this peaceful moment to the inevitable bickering that would break out if Kanda knew Allen was there. At this point, he was sure that the pair could and would argue about whether the sky was blue or not if they got the chance, and he refused to have what might be their only day off in months end that way. The desperation must've shown in his expression, something he would have to think about later before the Old Panda hauled him up again about wearing his heart on his sleeve. However, today it seemed to do the trick because after a brief hesitation Allen nodded and retreated, quietly pulling the door shut behind him, and Lavi took a deep breath as it clicked into place, making a note to buy Allen all the dango he could eat at some point, before he let himself slump back against the sofa.

He was still sleepy, but now he was wary of falling asleep as now they had been discovered it seemed inevitable that someone else would stumble across them. However, there was no way he was going to move, as it felt like forever since he'd seen Kanda sleeping even remotely peaceful, and if he was honest, he needed this moment too. This time with just the two of them, and no life-threatening danger hanging over them. A moment where they could just be Lavi and Yuu, although he could imagine the scowl that would appear if his partner knew that he was even thinking his first name, a fond smile tugging at his lips. Despite all the threats, and the fact that Kanda had probably pulled his blade on nearly everyone in the order at some point or other, he had never gone that far, and more than once Lavi had caught the tiniest of quivers at the corner of his mouth, a half-smile trying to fight free. It was why he persevered with teasing the other man, carefully riding the line of irritating in the hope that one day Kanda would be relaxed enough to smile for real.

However, teasing him was out of the question right now, a tiny snore drawing his attention back to Kanda and his smile grew as the other man shifted, rolling over until he was on his back, granting Lavi the perfect few of his peaceful expression. He supposed that it would still be classed as a grim expression on anyone else, but Lavi could see the lack of a furrow between Kanda's eyes, a laxness around his mouth, and there was the fact that his hands were loose and relaxed rather than grasping for Mugen as they usually did when he was asleep. Maybe it was just exhaustion that had reduced him to this state, as neither of them had been headquarters for more than half a day in what felt like months, the missions coming hard and fast and leaving them all stretched thin. But, Lavi liked to think that he was helping in some way, even if it was only by serving a pillow as Kanda nuzzled against him, breath catching for a moment before he settled once more.

It left him in a quandary though, because while there was no way he was going to disturb the other man, he couldn't just lie here and do nothing, and with sleep out of the question that was what he was looking at. It was times like this as his mind started to race, needing to be occupied to have something to focus on to stop the questions, the theories from bubbling up, that he cursed his training as a Bookman. As laid-back as he tended to be, and as lazy as he sometimes acted, he was used to being busy. He needed to be busy. He could already feel his thoughts starting to drift, back to the war, to the missions, to a thousand and one different things that he didn't want to think about today, and he glanced around, desperately trying to find something to keep him occupied that wouldn't wake his partner.

Unfortunately, neither of them were deep sleepers these days as there had been too many times that Akumas or worse a Noah had caught them off guard, and Lavi froze as he felt Kanda beginning to stir. The low grumble telling him that the swordsman was less than happy at being disturbed, and in sheer desperation, not wanting an argument and wanting Kanda to get as much rest as possible, Lavi began to hum under his breath. At first, it was just meaningless sound that was vaguely musical, but as Kanda sighed and seemed to start settling once more, he cast about for something better to hum. This time thankful for his bookman training as he finally lit upon an ancient lullaby that he'd read in one of the history books that the Old Man had forced him to memorise. It took him a little while to get the tune flowing, the original had been in an ancient script, with the musical notation barely legible in places, but Kanda didn't seem to mind as the lingering tension seemed to drain out of him, leaving him slumped against Lavi, for once completely relaxed.

When Lavi risked moving just enough to peer at Kanda's face, he was delighted to see that he actually looked truly peaceful once more, and there was even that faint quirk of the lips that he loved so much. It was enough to keep him humming under his breath, switching from song to song as he dredged them up from his memory, which also had the bonus of keeping his thoughts focused, allowing him to relax back into the sofa. At some point, his hand drifted, and he jolted slightly when he brushed against long, silky hair, waiting for the snarl that would usually follow such a touch, as his partner was always touchy when it came to his hair. However, today Kanda didn't react beyond shifting just a little and leaning into his touch and gaining confidence Lavi began to comb fingers through Kanda's hair, careful to keep his movements slow and deliberate.

As the movements passed with no sign of Kanda rousing, Lavi let a slightly wicked grin creep onto his face, checking once more that Kanda's eyes were still shut, before gently beginning to gather strands of the hair. Still, humming he started to braid the long hair, a skill he had learned from Lenalee back when she'd had long hair and had got frustrated with it, her instructions playing through his mind as nimble fingers wove the strands in and out of each other. The repetitive action was almost as relaxing as the humming, and once the first braid was finished and carefully tied off, he started another, revelling in the fact that they had the time to do something as silly and relaxing as this. He just prayed that Kanda wasn't going to kill him for this when he woke up, although as he toyed with the sleek hair, and peered down into Kanda's sleeping face, he decided that it would be worth it.

.


End file.
